THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Winston Churchhill, when speaking about the Royal Air Force, said “Never…in the history…have so many…owed so much…to so few.” With respect to perhaps the greatest orator ever, my reaction towards Cindy Sheehan is that never has one who owed so much to so many given so little. As expected, President Bush and the US military soldier on, and Cindy exits Snagglepuss (or is that sourpuss) style, stage (far) left.

When Yassir Arafat died, a columnist remarked that if one cannot say somethnig good, say nothing at all. So he wrote “Yassir Arafat is dead. Good.”

No, Cindy Sheehan did not murder anyone, but the only reason she did not murder the morale of the troops in the most consequentual and proper struggle of our lifetime is that that our soldiers are made of steel, and she is not. She tried to cause infinite pain and she failed, and I say good riddance.  

Cindy Sheehan started out as a sympathetic figure. She lost her child. No parent should see their child predecease them. It is the ultimate nightmare for any parent, and sympathy towards her was entirely appropriate. She then met with President Bush, ho met with her and offered sincere condolences, which is to be expected from a man who has had personal tragedies in his life (His sister died when she was a young child).

For some reason, Cindy Sheehan was not satisfied with his condolences. She waged a personal jihad against him. She stalked him for crying out loud. What else would you call someone that camps outside your personal residence and starts loudly yelling for days on end? She then aligned herself with the far left in this country, who when not hating everything conservatives and republicans stand for, find time to attack Israel and Jews. This makes perfect sense, given that Jews are as leftist as Cindy Sheehan is.

Cindy Sheehan stopped being sympathetic and started being seen as what she had become…a zealot. She was an activist, smiling before the cameras as she would get arrested, enjoying every moment of her newfound celebrity status. How do I know this? Again, she was smiling and laughing for the cameras.

She started her crusade over the tragedy of losing her son. What she still fails to acknowledge is that her son supported what he was doing, believed in what he was doing, and died a hero for a cause he voluntarily signed up for. There is no military draft in this country. Her son became a soldier, and died in a war. This is tragic, but he believed in the very thigns that Cindy Sheehan is fighting against. Like most activists, Cindy Sheehan neglected everything else in her life to go on her celebrity tour. Like college students in the 1960s sleeping outside and following the Grateful Dead around the country, she failed to see that while the Grateful Dead earned millions, many of their fans did not meet a happy financial ending.

Cindy Sheehan did not get a crisis of conscience, or a lobotomy. SHe is quitting because she is broke. I wonder if her celebrity friends such as Jane Fonda or Susan Sarandon will lift a finger to help her, or if they will discard her the way they lose interest in African nations once the glow of the newspaper wears off. They worry about Darfur now, and in the 1980s it was “We are the World” and Ethiopia (they did a great job improving that situation). The cause continues, as easily impressionable get sucked into a cause and then get thrown away.

“In the meantime, she said her antiwar activism had cost her her marriage, that she had put the survivor’s benefits paid for her son’s death and all her speaking and book fees into the cause and that she now owed extensive medical bills.”

Her husband asked her to come home for a long time. She started out angry over losing her son, and she ended up neglecting the rest of her family. That is what happens to activists. It is one thing to have causes, but they should not be a replacement for an entire existence. Her cause was her life, and it hurt the lives of those she claimed to care about the most. Even by Hollywood standards, this is selfish. Her son’s death was not a waste, but her losing all of her finances was a prime example of waste.

Cindy Sheehan did this to herself, and she has no one to blame but herself. I genuinely felt bad for Cindy Sheehan the mother, but I have utter contempt for Cindy Sheehan the activist. She says that she failed her son as his mother. For the last couple years she has failed her other children and her husband, who are very much alive.

The good news is Cindy Sheehan can make things right with her family. It will take time, but I genuinely hope those bonds are restored. There is something heroic in being a good spouse and parent, and as long as anyone is alive, they can be redeemed.

Plus, the more time she will spend with her family, assuming she cares more about them than her celebrity friends who care nothing about her, the less she will be on my television screen. This is a win-win for everybody. Perhaps one day Cindy Sheehan will be remembered best for the one very big positive thing she did…bring a fine young man into this world who gave his life for his country in a cause that he rightly believed in.

Or perhaps she will be remembered as another uninformed, nasty, venom spewing activist screwball who briefly made things worse and then disappeared. Come to think of it, there is a position open on “The View.”

God no. Like Bill Murray in “What about Bob,” she needs to leave. Her 15 minutes are up. Begone Ms. Sheehan. Exit, stage (ultra extreme) left.

eric

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 1:15 pm and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.